The Power Within
by Cassidy Alice
Summary: "This is crazy," she hissed. "You could go to prison or be executed. "I know," Katara replied. "But I've still got to try."
1. Into the Fray

This was originally supposed to be a part of my other story, Forever and For Always, but it ended up being too long. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing :(

* * *

**I. Into the Fray **

"_If a woman is sufficiently ambitious, determined and gifted - there is practically nothing she can't do__"_

~ Helen Lawrenson

Katara was sitting in the courtyard, idly swirling the tea in her cup when she noticed Toph and Mai approaching. The blind earthbender's face was expressionless as she kicked a pebble but Mai looked livid.

"What's wrong? Where's Suki?" Katara asked, noticing the Kyoshi warrior who had accompanied them was gone.

"I've had enough of these stupid war generals," Mai spat. "Suki's still arguing with them."

"What about?"

"Oh you know," Toph said, forgetting about the pebble and letting her sightless green eyes focus on the meeting room in the distance. "The usual."

"Which is?" Katara pressed.

"Some stupid generals implemented this new rule," Mai said, trying and failing to check her anger. Katara was slightly taken aback. She knew Mai had a temper, but she had never seen her so worked up about something.

"What exactly is this rule?"

Toph blew a strand of her charcoal hair away from her face. "What do you think? We're girls so we can't help rebuild the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and blah blah blah."

"Stupid generals," Mai hissed. "I could take them down any day."

Katara nodded and went back to swirling the tea in her cup. Mai and Toph watched her for a while before making a move to go. Suddenly, Katara sprang to her feet.

"Why don't we?" She suggested, her cerulean eyes twinkling.

"What?" Mai wondered.

"Take the generals down."

"You mean fight them?" Toph asked, grinning.

"Yes and no. Not physically anyway," Katara said. "I don't want to end up in jail or anything. What if we…"

"You're wasting your time, Katara. Even if we get the generals to change their mind, they'd only give us paperwork and we can do that anytime. They'll never let us actually join the meetings." Mai said.

"Can't you talk to Zuko?" Katara asked.

Mai shook her head. "He tried sticking up for her. Even Sokka tired, but the generals won't listen. They refuse to meet with him and if these meetings don't take place…"

She didn't have to finish her sentence because Toph and Katara knew what she meant.

"You should just go in there and fight them, Katara," Toph teased. "I'm sure it'll be a lot more fun than fighting Master Pakku was."

Katara smiled at the memory.

"You fought your grandfather?" Mai echoed.

Katara nodded. "He wasn't my grandfather when I fought him, though."

"Impressive," Mai muttered. "I didn't think you had it in you to fight old people. I always thought you were the good girl."

"I am," Katara replied, sweetly. "But I have my moments."

"So how exactly are we going to get them to listen to us?" Toph demanded. "It's not like we can just walk in there and say 'hey, we'd like to join you.' They won't listen."

Katara bit her lip. "I didn't think that far ahead, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. We should go get Suki. She can help."

They found the Kyoshi warrior in the midst of a heated discussion with one of the middle-aged government officials just outside the meeting room. He was a tall man, stout with a black moustache and beady brown eyes. He looked vaguely familiar, but Katara couldn't remember where she had seen him.

"That's Admiral Shan," Mai whispered. "We'll never get anywhere with him. He's stubborn."

Toph chuckled. "Yeah? Well, so is Katara." The waterbender smiled.

"I thought you were the stubborn one," Mai said, surprised.

"Usually, but Sugar Queen beats me. She's persistent. If it was up to me, I wouldn't have done anything about this stupid new rule. Or maybe I would have, but I'd have stopped after a while. Katara just keeps trying."

"Well, let's hope the Admiral meets his match in you, Katara," Mai whispered as the Admiral nodded in their direction.

"Ladies, so good of you to come. If you would just escort this lovely young woman back to her quarters, I'll be getting on with my work."

"Actually," Katara said. "We wanted to talk to you."

"We're not china dolls," Mai said. "We've got brains of our own and we could help you."

Admiral Shan glanced at them skeptically. "Ladies, really…"

"Listen up, old man," Toph said. "We're not helpless little girls who can't do anything. We helped the Avatar save the world. I think that's more than enough to let us in to some stupid meeting."

"In that case," the Admiral said. "Why don't you go pick a fight with some of the rebels terrorizing the borders?"

"We've done that," Suki said, irately. "And we stopped them too, _before_ your men arrived."

"Ah, too bad. I'm sorry, but I can't help you ladies. No women allowed inside."

"What exactly do you have against women?" Katara demanded. "We can help."

The general glared at her. "Women are useless," he hissed, his demeanor suddenly changing. "They belong in the house, doing domestic work."

Katara desperately wanted to bend him across the courtyard, but she restrained herself.

"Just so you know," Suki said. "There are plenty of women who are more than capable of doing what you're doing."

"Name one." The admiral spat.

"Avatar Kyoshi," Katara said. "She…"

"Was a fool," the Admiral said. "A fool if there ever was one."

Suki glared at him. "Perhaps, Admiral, you'd like to see how much of a _fool_ Kyoshi was?"

"Not me, no thank you. Now if you would excuse me." He made a move to go, but Toph stopped him with her earthbending.

"We're not finished yet," she said, icily.

"We're not leaving until you let us help." Katara added.

"I'll let you help the day you girls organize a coup and take over the government," the Admiral snapped. "Now leave."

"No." Katara replied.

"Make us," Mai challenged.

"Fine," the Admiral growled. "You want to help?" He unlocked a small door a few feet away and shoved Katara into the private study Zuko had lent. "Here's work. I want these documents put away neatly and those letters ready to be mailed. I'll be back by sunset. If it's not done…"

"This isn't what I meant," Katara snapped. But the Admiral had already closed the door and she heard the lock click shut.

"You locked her in?" Toph asked, as the admiral walked away. "The Avatar and the Firelord won't be too happy."

"They never have to know," was the Admiral's reply.

"At least let us in so we can help her," Suki said.

"Frankly, I don't think that would be such a good idea," Admiral Shan said. "I'm in no mood to deal with the Firelord about locking up his girlfriend and seeing as this one," he motioned to Toph, "is blind, I don't see what help she could give. And I've had more than enough of you."He said to Suki. He smiled coldly and walked into the meeting room.

"Its fine," Katara said from the other side of the door. "I can handle it." She glanced around the room. It was small and cluttered. Two out of the four walls were lined with tall shelves, stacked with books and papers. Some books and papers were neatly organized on the shelves, but most were haphazardly thrown either on the large desk in the center or on the shelves. Katara glanced out of the small window. The sun was directly overhead, so it couldn't have been a little past noon. She only had a few hours to work if she was going to finish everything by sunset. It seemed almost impossible to do, but then again, Katara had faced almost impossible odds more than once before.

When Admiral Shan returned, he was surprised to find the three other girls still sitting outside the room and waiting for their friends. The stood up when they saw him, and he grinned.

"Don't feel too bad ladies," he said. "I'm sure she gave it her best effort, but there's no way that room is organized."

"You seem to underestimate her," Mai said. "I wouldn't."

"Well," The Admiral scoffed. "Even you all are bound to fail sometime." The door swung open, and he was surprised to see Katara sitting at the desk, reading a book. She closed it shut when she saw him and tucked it away in a shelf.

"Here are your letters," she said, handing him a stack of envelopes. "And you're documents are in the drawers, alphabetized."

"What about my books?" he demanded.

"Organized according to category and alphabetized." She replied as she strode past him. The admiral just stared at her.

"I think we earned our way in," Mai said.

"Absolutely not," the admiral replied. "You just got lucky with this. I started organizing this mess beforehand."

"But…" Toph began.

"Goodbye, ladies." He turned his back on them and disappeared.

"Can you believe him?" Toph said, indignantly. "I swear if these meetings weren't so important, I'd earthbend him until all his bones were broken."

"I wish we could just get rid of him altogether," Suki said, as they started walking away.

"_I'll let you girls help the day you organize a coup and take over the government_," Mai imitated. "Who does he think he is?"

"That's it!" Katara exclaimed.

"What is?" Mai grumbled.

"We organize a coup and take over the government."

Toph gaped at her and Mai's mouth hung open. Suki just smiled, wryly.

"Are you insane, Katara? We could go to prison for that."

"Mai's right," Toph said. "This seems a little extreme for getting into a meeting."

"I know, but there's more to this than just letting girls in. The more people there are, the easier it will be to get things done."

"Zuko did mention he could use more help," Mai said. "He said they desperately needed it if they were going to restore the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom."

"See? It's the perfect plan to show them we can help and prove we're not china dolls."

"It's risky, though," Suki pointed out. "There's guards guarding all the generals and then we'd have to take care of the Dai Lee agents representing the Earth Kingdom and the actual generals themselves."

"If we succeed," Mai said. "We'd end up in jail and not even Zuko or Aang with his status as Avatar could bail us out."

"I'm all for fighting old people," Toph said. "But I'd like to stay out of jail."

"We can't just do nothing," Katara said.

"Katara, this whole plan is crazy," Toph cried. "Even crazier than that scam you and I pulled together."

"You scammed people too?" Mai asked Katara. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better."

"Katara has a point though," Suki piped up. "Aang, Zuko, and Sokka, need help. Even with everything that's going on, there's no way they'll get all that work done. The Admiral's going to need earthbenders and waterbenders if he's planning to help with the restorations and he won't be able to find anyone. If we offer to help, he'll just turn us away, so we have to do something to prove that we can help."

"But taking over the government?" Mai repeated. "It's crazy and dangerous."

"I've done lots of crazy things before," Katara said.

"Yeah, but nothing like this. It's treason, Katara. Did I mention you could go to jail?"

"Only about a thousand times," the waterbender replied.

"That's if they're lenient on you. You could get hanged for this."

"I'm not a Fire Nation citizen."

"Exactly. The officials could just vote to execute you."

"Let them, then," she said, shrugging. "But I'm sick of being treated like a little girl. I didn't stay in the Fire Nation to spend every day watching my brother go to meetings. I stayed because I thought I could help."

Mai buried her face in her hands. "You're not really doing this, are you?"

"Yes, I am."

"So am I," Suki said. "She's right. It's time someone stood up for all the girls who want to help, but can't. And if we don't do something, who else will?"

"When you put it like that," Toph said. "It doesn't sound like we're committing a crime. We're just helping other girls. I have nothing against that."

Mai groaned. "Fine, I'll help too. But I know I'm going to regret this."

* * *

i know there wasn't any Katara & Aang in this chapter, but there will be in future chapters. Please review :)

~Cassidy Alice


	2. Point of No Return

**II. Point of No Return**

"_If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.__"_

~ Jesse Jackson

"So how are we going to do this?" Suki asked, looking at Katara. The waterbender surveyed the meeting room, watching two guards talk.

"We need to figure out how many guards, Dai Lee agents, and government officials there are."

"I know there are at least twenty Dai Lee agents," Suki said. "Each one represents a different Earth Kingdom province."

"Any idea how many generals there are?" Katara asked Mai.

She shrugged. "There's a good amount."

Katara sighed. "It's going to be harder than I thought to take them down."

"What happened to not physically taking them down?" Mai retorted. "I thought you said you didn't want to end up in jail."

"That was before I knew how pigheaded these idiots are," Katara shot back. "And if we're planning a coup, we really have to attack them."

"This is crazy," she hissed. "You could go to prison or be executed."

"I know," Katara replied. "But I've still got to try. Besides, Suki's right. If we don't do this, who else will?"

"Whatever," Mai grumbled. "How exactly are you going to take them down?"

"We'll need help or we'll have to pick them off one by one," Toph said.

"Zuko, Sokka, and Aang can't know about this," Katara said.

"Why not?" Suki wondered.

"Sokka would kill me if he knew I was going to do this and I don't think Aang would be too happy, either. Besides, it'll look bad for Zuko and Aang if we involve them in this."

"Firelord Zuko and Avatar Aang Involved in Treacherous Plot," Toph laughed, imagining the newspaper headlines. "That'd be an invitation for sure. You'd have rebels swarming around this place in an instant."

Mai grinned. "I think I can keep Zuko out of this."

"Keeping Sokka out of it should be easy," Katara said. "I don't know about Aang though. He's usually perceptive."

"Maybe we should tell him," Toph said.

"No," Suki said. "The less people who know, the easier it will be. Besides, even if he agrees with us, I doubt he'd help us organize a coup."

Mai suddenly gasped.

"Don't tell me you're still against this," Suki said, smirking.

"No, I said I'll help, but we have a small problem."

"What?" Katara asked. "Are we not organizing a coup correctly?"

All eyes turned towards Mai and she frowned.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

"You did help Azula take over Ba Sing Se," Toph reminded. "If anyone here knows how to plot a coup, it's you."

Mai scowled. "Yeah."

"So what's the problem?" Suki asked.

"The coup has to be swift," Mai said. "When Azula took over Ba Sing Se, the coup was effective because she had the Dai Lee capture the Council of Five and the others all at the same time. If we don't do it swiftly and simultaneously, it won't work. Someone will tell Zuko or Aang."

"So what's the problem there?" Toph asked.

"Zuko's the Firelord. It doesn't matter who we are when we stand trial in front of him; he'll have to punish us."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Suki said. "We don't even know if we're going to make it that far. We can worry about that once we actually start the coup."

"We need to figure out how many people there are," Katara said. "Once we do that, we can plan the rest."

Suki grinned. "I think I can get Sokka to talk."

Dinner that night was awkward. Katara felt terrible for deceiving Zuko, Aang, and Sokka, but she really was tired of the way she was being treated. It had been months since the peace talks had started and she hadn't done anything helpful. It made her feel useless and it put a damper on her spirits, something Aang seemed to notice.

"You're really quiet," he said.

"You haven't even said anything," Sokka pointed out, between mouthfuls of food."What's up?"

"Just tired," she replied.

"Admiral Shan said he was attacked by a bunch of girls," Zuko said, sipping his soup. "You wouldn't happen to know them, would you?"

Mai saw Suki stiffen from the corner of her eye. "No. "

"He said one of them was a blind earthbender."

Toph snorted. "Wasn't me."

"Is she lying?" Sokka whispered to Aang. He shook his head and Toph frowned. Judging from Aang's vibrations, she knew that he knew she was lying. So why wasn't he saying anything? It made her wonder. Did he know the truth? Even if he felt Katara's vibrations, it wouldn't give anything away. The waterbender was being unusually calm for someone who was plotting a coup.

"Is there any more soup?" Sokka wondered.

"I'll go get it," Katara said, quickly getting up.

"I'll help," Toph said, following the older girl.

Zuko just watched them go. "What's with them?"

Suki shrugged. "So how was your day?" she asked Sokka and Zuko.

The warrior shrugged. "Oh, the usual. Lots of talk about rebuilding the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom and whatnot."

"Oh. Sounds interesting."

"It's tiring," Sokka admitted. "There's a lot of work to do. I wish we had more help."

Suki nodded, knowingly.

"Where are they with that soup?" Sokka said as his stomach growled and Suki laughed.

"We have a problem," Toph whispered, as she and Katara ladled soup from a large pot on the stove to smaller container conducive for serving. "Twinkle Toes knows I lied."

Katara suddenly felt sick. "He knows?"

Toph nodded.

"We're doomed, and we haven't even started," Katara cried.

"Ssh," Toph said. "Calm down. He just knows I lied about meeting the admiral. Nothing else. If he tries talking to you, turn up some of that feminine charm and try and ignore his questions. And tell Mai and Suki to do the same."

"Feminine what?" Katara said, but Toph had already disappeared.

The rest of the dinner was uneventful and a lot less awkward. Neither Sokka, Aang, nor Zuko brought up the Admiral or the girls' suspicious behavior and Katara was grateful. She was suddenly nervous now that Aang seemed to know something was going on. But nervous or not, she was going to through with her crazy plan. It was her idea after all.

After dinner they all disbanded. Suki followed Sokka to the courtyard, presumably to press some information out of him, and Mai slipped into Zuko's study on the pretense of looking for one of her little knives which she had so carelessly misplaced the other day, while Toph headed to Admiral Shan's newly organized study to "snoop for the old man's list of subordinates," leaving Katara to peruse the vast collection of books in Zuko's library. There weren't many books that could help them, but she found a detailed one explaining how to wage war or something along those lines and began reading until someone called her name.

"Katara?"

She nearly dropped the book from fright. "Oh. Hi, Aang."

"You know this is Zuko's war section, right?"

"His what?" she asked, blankly.

"War section or whatever he calls it. The only books you'll find here are books on war."

"So I noticed," she said, discreetly putting the book back. "What are you doing here?"

The airbender made a face. "Playing librarian. Zuko needed someone to put these books back."

Katara glanced up at the tall shelves. Some were easily three times her height. "Do you need help?" Not that she could reach those tall shelves, but at least he couldn't question her about why she was acting so strange.

"Sure." He handed her a stack of books, and she diligently set to work shelving the books. For a while, they just talked about work and such, but Katara suddenly asked the airbender a question.

"If Toph suddenly became evil, what would you do?"

"You really think she'd become evil?" He asked, tucking a book in its place on one of the upper shelves.

Katara shrugged and handed him another book. "No, but I was just curious. What if I turned evil?"

"No offense," Aang said, smiling. "But I don't think you or Toph have it in you."

"But if I did," she wondered. "What would you do?"

"I don't know," he replied, truthfully. "I never really thought about that."

"Would we," She began hesitantly, but then paused. After taking a breath, she willed herself to continue. "Would we still be friends?"

He smiled reassuringly and nodded. "Of course." Katara released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Somehow or other, the knowledge that their friendship wouldn't be broken gave her reassurance for what she was about to do.

* * *

"We've got all the information we need," Suki said, the following morning as Mai joined them. "There are about twenty Dai Lee agents, twenty five guards and fifteen officials."

"Any benders?" Toph wondered.

Suki nodded. "A couple of the guards are benders, but for the most part, they're all nonbenders and you know the Dai Lee are earthbenders. The officials though, the Admiral and his subordinates, they're all firebenders."

"Who's in charge of the meeting today?" Katara asked.

"Admiral Shan," Mai replied. "Normally the War Minister or some other Minister heads the meetings but because the army is involved, Admiral Shan was chosen to be the leader or whatever. He takes his orders directly from Zuko."

Katara nodded. "Then we have to make sure he's not around during the coup."

"Don't worry," Mai said. "He won't be. He met up with Zuko shortly after breakfast. He's going to the northern border to examine something before coming back down here. We should be done long before he returns."

"How are we going to take all of them down at the same time?" Toph wondered.

"Since you're the only earthbender here, you have to disable the Dai Lee," Katara said.

Toph nodded, smiling. "Finally, some fun."

"Mai and I could disable the guards," Suki suggested. "It should be easy. Think you can handle the officials."

Katara winked at her. "I love picking fights with old people, remember?"

Mai grinned. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is starting to sound like fun."

"Even if we end up in jail?" Suki said.

Mai nodded. "It'll be worth it."

"When do we strike?" Toph asked.

Katara glanced at the sun. It wasn't even noon yet. "Soon."

"We'll probably need disguises, right?" Suki asked.

"Not if we want them to see us," Mai answered. "Besides, if they can't recognize us, how are they going to tell Admiral Shan we were the ones who did it?"

"What exactly do we do with everyone when we're done?"

"They need to be locked up," Katara said. "Or something like that. If we leave them, they'll find some way to ruin our plan."

Mai thought for a moment before answering. "Right next door to the meeting room, there's another larger room. I know for a fact it's empty; Zuko says he never uses it. It'd be big enough to contain the Dai Lee and the guards."

"What about the officials?"

"There's a back room in the meeting hall. It should hold all the officials."

"I guess the only thing left to do is decide when to strike."

"Noon," Suki said, matter-of-factly. "It gives us enough time to rest and all those old men seem sleepier in the afternoon. They'll be easy to take down. It's a shame though. Some of them were actually really nice."

All four girls exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

"This is arguably the dumbest thing I've ever done," Mai said. "But it's completely worth it."

* * *

In spite of everything, Katara was nervous. It wasn't like she had ever planned a coup before or participated in one. There was something strangely satisfying, though, about orchestrating one. She only hoped Sokka would somehow understand why she did it when he found out the truth. It wasn't going to be easy explaining it to him, but then again, explaining any idea of hers to him seldom was. She wasn't sure how he'd take the news. Knowing him, he'd probably be furious with her. She could live with it. As long as she and Sokka didn't end up like Zuko and Azula, she didn't care how angry or upset Sokka was with her.

Aang's reaction was a different story. She wasn't sure whether he'd be angry or upset or even happy with what she was doing. She didn't want to end their friendship with something like this, but something had to be done. She couldn't take much more of the oppression and judging by how Suki was always arguing with the officials these days, neither could she. It was the reason they decided to remain in the Fire Nation in the first place. With the war over, they thought they'd be able to help, but so far, they hadn't done anything. It was disappointing.

"Why the long face?" Sokka asked, coming to sit beside her.

"I was just thinking of how little we got done after the war ended."

Sokka nodded, sighing. "Yeah. It's these stupid officials. They keep talking about all these great ideas, but they won't let women do anything. Half the Fire Nation Army's soldiers are women. Some of the best earthbenders and waterbenders are women. I don't know how we're going to get anything done if they won't let them help."

"Sokka, if I did what Azula did, would you be mad?"

"It depends," Sokka said, glancing suspiciously at her. "Are you planning to kill Aang or Zuko?"

"Sokka!"

"Kidding," he snickered, but he became somber when he saw his little sister wasn't smiling. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

"I don't see you becoming like Azula, but if you did, if you went after Zuko or Aang or planned a coup or tried to kill anyone, I'd probably be mad. But I'm sure we wouldn't end up like Zuko and Azula."

_Even if I did…am…planning a coup? _Katara wondered. _Even if it's a fake one?_

"What if I did?" Katara asked. "What if I… I don't know, planned to rule the Fire Nation or something and I got rid of Zuko. What would you do?"

Her brother shrugged. "Try to reason with you, I guess."

"You wouldn't hate me?" she asked, quietly.

"No, of course not. I'd be confused and upset, but I don't think I'd hate you."

"And Aang?" Her voice was a little more than a whisper.

"Katara, I'm pretty sure you could murder someone and he'd forgive you."

"I don't think so."

Sokka sighed. "You know what I mean. Zuko might go insane and never forgive you, but Aang and I won't."

Katara sighed.

"What brought all of this on, anyway?" Sokka wondered. "Are you contemplating switching sides or something?"

Katara shook her head. "They say if you want something badly enough, you have to fight for it. I'm just wondering if I'm doing it the right way and…"

"And?" The warrior pressed.

"And if I'm not, would you hate me for it?"

Sokka shook his head. "No, of course not."

Katara gave him a small smile before turning her gaze to the meeting hall in the distance. She still felt awful for lying to Sokka, but she couldn't risk telling him the truth. She wasn't sure if what he said would still apply after he knew the truth, but perhaps, somehow, he would forgive her.

"You know," Sokka said. "Whatever it is you're doing, you should be confident about it. You'll succeed. I know you will. And don't worry about what I think. In the end, you'll still be my little sister and no matter what, I won't hate you."

"Thank you," she whispered, giving him a hug.

"Anytime," he replied, walking away. Katara watched him go, feeling slightly cheered up. It was a small comfort knowing that Sokka wouldn't hate her for what she was about to do. When she could no longer see his figure, she got up and made her way to the courtyard where Toph, Suki, and Mai were waiting.

"I thought you'd never show up," the blind earthbender grumbled, but she was smiling.

"Well," Suki said, surveying the meeting hall. "This is it, the point of no return."

Katara just smiled. Their idea was crazy and dangerous, but it was still worth it.


	3. Warrior Women

**III. Warrior Women**

"_Within__ you right now is the __power__ to do things you never dreamed possible__."_

~ Unknown

The meeting room was empty when Sokka, Zuko, and Aang walked in. Normally, the generals and other officials were ready a good ten minutes before the Firelord and the Avatar arrived but now, the room was completely deserted and not a single person was in sight. Zuko looked puzzled. He knew that the others weren't keen on punctuality, but they usually were on time and ready to go when he arrived.

"Where is everyone?" he wondered.

Aang shrugged. "Maybe they forgot."

"Those guys?" Sokka said. "I highly doubt it. I mean, this is their job."

"I haven't seen any of them all day," Aang said.

"Actually," Zuko said, looking pensive. "Neither have I. And I haven't seen Mai at all either."

"I haven't seen Katara, Toph, or Suki," Sokka added. "And they've been acting really strange lately."

"I wonder what they're up to," Zuko muttered.

Sokka shrugged. "Who knows? Katara asked me if I'd hate her if she turned into Azula."

Zuko's eyes widened. "She _what_? She said she's going to turn into Azula."

"No. She wouldn't tell me what was going on. She just asked if I would hate her if she did something Azula might have done."

Zuko frowned. He desperately wanted to know what the girls were up to, but he knew them well enough to know they wouldn't tell him, even if he tried to trick them.

"You don't think they're doing anything…illegal, do you?" Zuko wondered.

"Like what?" Sokka snorted. "They don't have what it takes to do something illegal. Besides, we don't do illegal stuff."

Zuko sighed. "Yeah, I know. But Mai's never acted this weird before. I wish I knew what they were up to."

"Girls," Sokka said, emphatically. "Life's biggest mystery. I'll never understand them."

Aang didn't tell him that behind one of the closed doors of the room, he could feel the vibrations of two warriors, a blind earthbender, and a waterbender.

Admiral Shan and three of his subordinates entered the meeting room twenty minutes late. They hadn't expected their journey back from the northern border to take so long, but as always, something or other had happened and they found themselves practically running to the meeting room. When they threw open the doors, they were surprised to find the room completely empty save for the Firelord, the Avatar, and the Water Tribe warrior.

"Your Highness," Shan said, bowing to Zuko. "Where are all the officials and my men?"

Zuko shrugged. "We've been waiting for a while, but no one has shown up."

The Admiral nodded and dispatched two of his men to search the area. The third, a young boy, stood there silently, watching his superior.

"What's going on?" Mai asked, entering the meeting room. "I thought you had a meeting."

"We did," Sokka said, listlessly, glancing at Katara, Toph, and Suki, who stood behind her. "But apparently, everyone decided not show up."

"Admiral, could I take part?" the boy asked.

"No," was the Admiral's curt reply.

"Why not?"

"You don't have what it takes."

The boy looked crestfallen and Katara frowned.

"Maybe they…" Toph began, but suddenly, the doors burst open and the Admiral's men returned bringing with them the government officials, the Dai Lee, and the rest of the Admiral's men who hadn't journeyed with him. They looked confused and bewildered and the Admiral was not pleased.

"Where have you all been?" he thundered. None of his men met his gaze.

"They were found locked up," said one of the men he had dispatched. "Said they were ambushed."

"Who ambushed you?"

All heads turned towards Katara, Mai, Suki and Toph.

The Admiral gaped at them. "_What_?"

"They did," a Dai Lee agent said. "They managed to lock all of us up."

"I'll say this once again. Who ambushed you?" the Admiral demanded.

"It was the girls, I swear." the Dai Lee agent replied. "They did it."

All eyes returned to stare at them and Zuko gaped.

"Katara?" Sokka squeaked. "Oh no."

"Why?" the Admiral asked. "Why did you lock up all these people?"

"You said you'd let us help the day we organized a coup and took over the government," Toph said, evenly. "So we did. But we didn't hurt anyone."

"It was the best coup I've been in," an elderly official piped up. "I was quite comfortable."

The Admiral shook his head. The old man's crazy, he thought.

"And you're being unfair," Katara pointed out. "You wouldn't let us help, you won't let him help," she pointed to the boy. "How do you expect to get anything done?"

"This was your idea, wasn't it?" Shan asked, pointing at Suki and ignoring Katara. "I've had more than enough of you and your stupid ideas. I'll…"

He was met with a water whip.

"It was _our_ idea," Mai explained coolly. "We all came up with it and we all helped. So if you're going to blame her, you have to blame us too."

"Gladly. Men, arrest these girls and anyone who supports them." Admiral Shan turned to Aang. "Avatar, what should we do with them?"

Aang glanced at Katara, but she didn't meet his gaze. He turned back to the Admiral. "Why are you asking me? I support them, so I guess I'm going to jail too."

The Admiral turned scarlet and began spluttering. "But you're the Avatar and they're…girls, and…" He sighed, resignedly. "Take them away."

"Including the Avatar, sir?" someone asked.

"No. We can't send the Avatar to jail, you idiot."

"You can't send my sister to jail either," Sokka said. "You can't send any of them to jail. They did nothing wrong."

"They took over the government," Admiral Shan protested.

"Not really," one of the Dai Lee said but fell silent when the Admiral glared at him.

"What do you propose we do, Firelord?" Shan asked.

Zuko looked confused. He didn't want to send them to jail, but if he didn't so something, he knew he'd end up being accused of being unjust.

"Should we execute them?"

All the color drained from Sokka's face. For an instant, he was speechless, but then he turned livid. "You have no right to execute anyone," he snapped.

"Try and stop me."

"I'm not letting you hurt my sister or anyone else."

"It's alright, Sokka," Suki said. "We'll be fine." She smiled, but Sokka was still unconvinced.

* * *

The prison was damp and their cell was crowded, but none of the girls cared. Mai was angry that Zuko hadn't even bothered to defend them, but Toph pointed out that he was probably still in shock. The worst part, however, was that in spite of everything, they hadn't accomplished anything. The Admiral was being just as rude, if not more so. Katara remembered the look on the boy's face when the admiral refused to let him help. He looked so sad, so disappointed.

"We have to get out of here," she said. "If we just sit here and do nothing…"

"What's the use?" Mai said. "We lost."

"Maybe not," Toph said thoughtfully, and the older girl turned to stare at her. "Some of the men seemed like they were on our side. If only there was a way to get them to help us."

* * *

Sokka was pacing back and forth across the room and Aang was positive that if he kept it up, he might actually wear a hole in the ground. He must have told Sokka to stop worrying a hundred times, but Sokka was _too_ worried to care. Both of them suddenly understood what had prompted Katara to ask such strange questions. Aang glanced out the window in the direction of the prison. He felt bad for not helping, but he understood why Katara hadn't told him anything.

"If those idiots think they can just execute people, they've got another thing coming," Sokka snarled. "I'm not letting them execute my little sister or Suki."

"Calm down, Sokka. No one's going to be executed."

"Calm down?" Sokka half-screeched. "My baby sister is about to be executed and you want me to _calm down_? Does that mean anything to you?"

Aang nodded seriously. "Yes, but you think better when you're not ranting and I'm going to need help if I'm going to break them out."

Sokka gaped at him. "What if you get caught? It'll look bad."

"Would you rather have me look bad or Katara and Suki dead?" the airbender asked.

Sokka grimaced.

"Let's just tell Zuko."

"No," Aang said. "Involving Zuko would only make it worse. I don't think people will be too happy with him if he was involved in a prison break."

"So what do we do?"

"_I'll_ break them out. You try and get some of the others to support us. If we can convince enough of them, maybe the Admiral will forget about this whole idea of not letting girls help because they're girl or whatever he says."

Sokka nodded and Aang was out the door before Sokka could wish him good luck. He had no doubt that the young avatar would bring the others back, but he was still nervous. What if everything fell apart?

* * *

Zuko was in the midst of a heated discussion with Admiral Shan, trying to dissuade him from punishing the girls, when a messenger arrived with news for him. Zuko's eyes darted over the hastily scrawled writing for the third time before turning to Admiral Shan and asking him to ready his men.

"What's going on?" Shan demanded. "Why do I need to alert my men?"

"Rogue firebenders are on their way here. I want every soldier, men _and _women, ready, just in case." Zuko commanded, walking away. The Admiral muttered something behind his back and stormed off to alert his men. In fifteen minutes, they were ready and stationed in different sectors the city and at all entrances and exits of the royal Palace.

Such a shame those girls aren't here, Shan thought as his eyes darted over the soldiers standing at the main gate of the palace and thinking of Suki's remark earlier, when she had implied that his troops couldn't stop rebels. Now they'd see how it's really done.

* * *

Toph and Katara had long ago given up trying to bend themselves out of their cell. They didn't know what their cell was made of, but it was strong enough to keep them in so they just sat in the dark, letting the silence grow around them. Katara suddenly felt miserable. She knew Sokka would probably be furious with her if she ever got out of this, but she was still unsure about Aang. Even though he said he supported them, Katara wasn't sure whether or not he was mad at her.

A faint noise came from somewhere outside of their cell and Toph pressed her hand to the floor to check the vibrations. She suddenly grinned.

"Finally, someone came."

Suki raised an eyebrow, slightly skeptical, but gasped when the grating swung open.

"Took you long enough Twinkle Toes," Toph whispered and for a moment, Katara's heart missed a beat.

"We need to get back to the palace fast," Aang explained. "Apparently a bunch of rogue firebenders are headed there and Zuko might need help. I heard from one of the soldiers in this area."

"What about the Admiral?" Mai asked, as they started walking. "He's okay with us helping?"

"Probably not," Aang admitted. "But Zuko's working on that."

* * *

By the time they reached the palace, the rogue firebenders had already arrived. They wore dark red robes and helmets that vaguely reminded Katara of the old Firelord and they were chanting slogans that didn't sound very pleasant.

"Down with Firelord Zuko."

"Death to the Firelord."

"Long live Ozai."

"Long live the Phoenix King."

"Long live Princess Azula."

"Someone should tell these guys who won the war," Toph said as the firebenders themselves at the soldiers. "Clearly, they're nuts."

Katara just grinned. Perhaps, this was the perfect way to prove that they were more than capable of helping.

* * *

The fight could have lasted minutes or even hours before the firebenders left, but they didn't leave before doing some damage. Admiral Shan shuddered at the sight of his broken and burnt leg and winced in pain. In all his years of military experience, he had never felt any pain like this. Heroism comes with a price, he thought, bitterly, wondering if he'd ever be able to walk again. He tried standing up, but a sharp pain lanced through him and he fell back down to the ground, unconscious.

When he woke up again, he was in a brightly lit room and something cool was moving across his leg. He gingerly hoisted himself up and squinted in the bright lit. Firelord Zuko was standing with several others at the foot of his bed.

"You better thank her," he said, gesturing to Katara who was finishing healing his leg. "She saved your life."

Admiral Shan didn't want to see his injured leg, but he dared himself to look and was surprised to find that it was completely normal. "It's healed!" he cried, gleefully.

"And Katara healed it," Sokka snapped. "So don't you dare say girls can't do anything. If it wasn't for girls, you'd be dead right now."

"I would?"

"One of those firebenders would have killed you if Mai hadn't hit him first," Zuko said. "You were too busy fighting to see him."

The Admiral smiled sheepishly.

"And Admiral, we're letting them help us whether you like it or not. Reconstruction isn't going to be easy and we need all the help we can get. If you don't like this, I can always appoint someone else as Admiral," Zuko said, walking away.

Admiral Shan glanced at Katara, Suki, Mai, and Toph. "My apologies," he said in a small voice, and startling them; they didn't expect him to give in so easily, but apparently he loved his job. "Perhaps, you ladies really could help."

* * *

"I can't believe we did it," Suki said, later as she and Sokka walked along the footpath that twisted through the courtyard.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Sokka said, pretending to sound offended. "I would have helped."

"We wanted to," Suki said. "But Katara was afraid you'd be mad at her and we didn't want to get Zuko or Aang involved; it'd probably ruin their reputation."

"Were you also afraid I'd hate you?" Sokka wondered.

"I never really thought about your reaction," Suki admitted, laughing. "I was just trying to focus on getting through this thing."

"You still could have told me," Sokka protested. "I don't have a reputation to ruin."

Suki grinned and kissed him. "Next time," she promised. Sokka smiled back and nodded. He'd hold her to that.

* * *

Zuko was debating whether or not to talk to Mai. He didn't know if she was angry at him or not, but he decided he didn't really care as he walked towards her. Surprisingly enough, she greeted him with a smile and grinned when he asked her if she was mad at him.

"Not really," she admitted. "I mean, I was, but not anymore."

"Why?"

"You didn't stand up for us, so I thought you didn't care."

Zuko laughed. "I was surprised. Shocked, actually. I didn't think you guys would actually plan a coup."

Mai shrugged. "Something needed to be done," she said, off-handedly. "And we did it."

"Just do me a favor next time," Zuko said and Mai looked inquiringly at him. "Just tell me before you do something crazy next time. If I can't talk you out of it, maybe I can help."

"Next time," Mai promised, smiling a little wider. "You can definitely help."

* * *

"So, you're not mad at me?" Katara clarified as she and Aang sat in one of the many courtyards and watched the sun set.

Aang shook his head. "No, I'm not." He replied, smiling.

Katara breathed a sigh of relief. "I really thought you and Sokka would be furious after what we did."

"What gave you that idea?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Sokka's always been a little overprotective so I just figured he'd be really mad when he found out."

"He was more worried than mad." Aang conceded.

"And you're not mad, either?"

"No," the airbender replied, laughing. "For the thousandth time, I'm not mad. You should have told us though. I'm sure Zuko and Sokka would have been willing to help. I'd have been willing to help."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Admiral Shan was being crazy; we even tried to tell that to him, but he wouldn't listen. We really needed more help, but he wouldn't accept help when it was offered, unless it was offered by a man. Sokka tried convincing him to let you guys help, but the Admiral refused."

"I know. That's why we planned a fake coup."

"Just make sure you tell me the next time you plan one. I'd hate to be on the receiving end," he joked.

"It wouldn't look good, especially for you," Katara pointed out. "And people would be mad."

"The whole world was mad when I disappeared for a hundred years," Aang said. "I think they can forgive me if I help a friend."

"But if you planned a coup?"

"If it was for a good cause, I don't think they'd care."

"You think our cause was good?" Katara asked, glancing at the rows of houses that surrounded the palace.

"I'm sure lots of people do. Somewhere right now, some little girl is probably listening to her mother tell her the story about four girls who planned a fake coup to prove that they could help."

Katara laughed. "You make it sound like an epic or a legend. It wasn't like that at all."

"Maybe it didn't feel like it, but years from now, when we're all gone, who knows? It might be just that."

Katara sighed dreamily, wondering whether or not that would happen. It seemed almost surreal.

"You're not…"

He cut her off with a kiss. "No, I'm not mad."

"Good, because that was fun and I might do that again if I had another chance." Katara said.

Aang just smiled. "I'll help."

"Really?" Katara asked, her blue eyes twinkling with mirth. "You don't know what you're signing yourself up for, Aang."

"I think I do," He replied, loftily.

"If you say so," Katara said, shrugging but she burst out laughing. "You wouldn't really do it, would you?"

"Only for you, as long as you wouldn't be mad at me."

"No, I don't think I would," she admitted, grinning. After all, how many girls could say the Avatar would do something like that for them? She wondered.

"Good, because I'd gladly help," he said, lacing their hands together.

Katara just smiled. No, she thought. Not many girls had the luxury she had. Aang was the Avatar, but he was all hers.

* * *

_Thanks for reading and all the reviews :)_

_~ Cassidy Alice_


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